Two people including a resident and a land guard have reportedly died following a violent clash on Thursday at Kraboa, a farming community in Ayensuano District in the Eastern Region.
The incident occurred after residents predominantly peasant farmers blocked a road to prevent sand winners accused of destroying their farms from transporting sand.
According to eyewitnesses, the residents’ protest escalated when landguards protecting the sand winners attacked them with gunfire.
The residents retaliated leading to multiple casualties. One of the protesting farmers was shot dead while one of the land guards was found unconscious after being hit.
An eyewitness recounted the events saying: “In the morning, the local chief Yaw Asiedu accompanied by some landguards came here. For about a month, they have been invading our farms with machines to mine sand. They are destroying our crops especially cassava which we hoped to harvest since our maize didn’t grow well.
…We protested and the police came to intervene but the landguards later returned in the evening firing shots. They killed one person and injured five others. The injured have been rushed to Koforidua for medical attention to remove bullets.”
The eyewitness added that the landguards numbering about 50 were led by the chief in a convoy of vehicles and motorcycles.
In the chaos, one of the landguards was also killed.
However, residents claim the police prioritized taking the injured landguard to the hospital over assisting the native who was shot.
Ayensuano District has been plagued by illegal sand-winning activities often resulting in violent clashes between farmers and sand winners. Armed land guards reportedly accompany these operators terrorizing residents and destroying farmlands.
This latest incident has heightened tensions in the community with residents calling for urgent government intervention to address the illegal sand-winning menace and ensure their safety.
